What are some things you do to help you remember? When you are studying for a test, what do you do to try to remember the info you need to? Are your strategies effective?

PSYCH JOURNAL 8/29/13

Remember as many items as you can…

Bed Clock Dream Night Turn Doze Mattress Snooze Night Insomnia

Nod Tired Night Artichoke Rest Toss Yawn Nap Snore Pillow

Write down what you remember

Serial-Position Effect You are more likely to remember the first

and last items in a list, and forget the middle stuff.

Primacy effect – remembering the items at the beginning of the list (bed, clock)

Recency effect – remembering the end of the list (snore, pillow)

Frequency The more we rehearse materials, the

more we are likely to remember them. The word “night” appeared multiple times

Distinctiveness We remember what is different or unique

“Artichoke” was different than all of the other terms which involved sleep

Organization When we can organize info into chunks,

we remember it better Toss & Turn

Reconstruction Did you write down sleep? Was not in the list. Filled in gaps based

on our previous knowledge

Visual Imagery Visualizing (picturing) things helps

people remember Did you create a bedroom and place the

clock, mattress, and pillow in it?

HOW WE REMEMBER

Tools for improving your memory

Why are some things hard to remember?

Encoding: Easy – location, time, and frequency

(almost automatic) More difficult – effortful encoding – select

main points, label concepts, make associations

Rehearsal Reviewing or practicing Maintenance rehearsal – rote (routine)

repetition Elaborative rehearsal – associate new

material with material you already know Elaborative rehearsal is a better memory

method

Rehearsal continued Deep processing – we encode the

meaning of something

Mnemonics Strategies and tricks for improving

memory Effectively encodes, may involve

chunking

Fall back, Spring Ahead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8S8V9VEFyI